Recommendations for British Columbia?

[peyjax]

Posted this in two other sections because I did not know this section of the boards was here! I always get great suggestions from the disboards so...

We will be traveling to Victoria for a wedding in the summer and was looking for ideas on what to do. All I have now is a whale watch cruise.
We are not set on just staying in Victoria as we are traveling from far away and the scenery is vastly different from what we are used to. We are traveling with small kids so that does limit us, but do not mind car rides. I do not know anything about BC except it is very pretty in pictures so help is greatly appreciated.

I would like to expose the kids to sights and cultural things they are not familiar with. I keep thinking an adventures by disney type trip but on the cheap! We do not have a set time to spend, I am thinking 10 days more or less. All suggestions welcome. TIA

 

[sechelt]

The Royal B.C. Museum, bell carillon, parliament buildings, Empress Hotel, Craigdarroch Castle, inner harbour, beaches, and Fort Rodd Hill are all in or near Victoria. If you drive north on the Island Highway, you can visit Parksville, Coombs (goats live on the roof), Horne Lake Caves, and Cathedral Grove. We lived in Victoria when our kids were preschoolers and went to most of these. We never went in the parliament buildings, Empress hotel, or caves until they were older but these are still great to see from outside. The museum has lots of info on B.C. and our kids loved exploring. There was lots for them and us. The carillon is beside the museum and sounds wonderful. Fort Rodd Hill is a national heritage site and is a great place for kids to let off steam while you explore some history. Parksville has some really nice places to stay that are waterfront. The town is known for it's beautiful sandy beach when the tide is out. Cathdral Grove is a stand of giant, Douglas Fir. Some are more than 800 years old.

These are just a few suggestions and hopefully others will have some more.

 

[FergusBC]

Yep, the Museum is awesome, lots of history and info. What time of year are you visiting? Lots of markets, and street entertainers in the summer. Definitely worth renting a car and driving up Island. Parksville has a great playground/waterpark right at the beach and at low tide the beach goes on forever! Or drive through Cathedral Grove and on through to Long Beach. It's an easy 2 hour drive from Victoria to Parksville (my MIL lives there so we drive up and down all the time LOL)...and probably another 90 minutes to Long Beach...(it's been a while since I've been there). Absolutely amazing scenery!

Ask away if you have questions or want more info

 

[ryckpen]

Butterfly gardens is beautiful and really neat for the kids and the adults. Agree with the BC Royal Museum. Also Hatley Castle and gardens the gardens are very pretty and the scenery worth a look. Fort Rod Hill is close to Hatley Castle and another place worth the time. We loved Victoria and found lots to do I'm sure you'll have a great visit.

 

[Yogurt]

The drive to Long Beach/Tofino (recommended above) is lovely, as it takes you through the mountains at the center of the island and Cathedral Grove, and the scenery on the west side of the island is breaktaking. It's about a four hour winding drive from Victoria.

If you don't have time for that, you can also get a taste of the wild Pacific coast from the provincial parks west of Victoria, such as French Beach and China Beach. They're only an hour or so away.

There are some great restaurants/hotels out that way too, including the Sooke Harbour House and Point No Point (kids would probably prefer the latter).

In Victoria, check Urbanspoon for restaurant recommendations. We like Rebar, a funky vegetarian place. They'll bring giant plastic dinosaurs to the table for the kids.

Take a little time to visit Victoria's (one street long) Chinatown, including Fan Tan Alley, a super-narrow alley where your kids will be able to touch both walls at once at the narrowest part.

I'm too new to post images, so check Google Images for China Beach BC and Fan Tan Alley.

Have fun!

 

[Malakaiii]

Hi! You're going to love Victoria and Vancouver Island.

We live in Parksville and it's gorgeous here. I would personally recommend a drive up-Island. Spend an afternoon in Parksville (we have 2 amazing beaches: Rathtrevor & Parksville Beach), and 2 great mini-golf courses if that's up your alley. Driving to Tofino is a really nice tour as well. It does get very busy there in the summer months, so book ahead!

 

[Vancouver2Disneyland]

Tofino is great, just don't forget to get a park pass as the beaches are a national park and I've been told the parking people are quite quick
Going to Vancouver is nice too, and I'm not sure the age of your kids, but I really like going to the aquarium in Stanley Park and I'm 20, which could be a whole day, especially if you walk or bike around the seawall which is 10 km.

 

[Canooknic]

If you go to Vancouver, Stanley Park is gorgeous, the aquaruim is lovely (even without the hand-holding otters ) and one of the best days I had was at the science museum (kind of like a mini Epcot golf ball!) I didn't go with kids the first time but still really enjoyed it and when I took my nephews we had a blast.

 

[disEAR]

If you go to Vancouver. (My neck of the woods). Definitely try to walk around Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, spend a day at the Aquarium! Really beautiful! If you see Daisy, the young Porpoise, tell her I said hello. Me and the Mrs. Helped rehabilitate her after she was found injured a few year back.

Also if you head to North Van, Grouse Mountain is lots of fun any time of year, if you go in the summer and you like a physical challenge be sure to look into doing the grind. Kayaking at Deep Cove is one of my favorite things to do too! Though you'll probably have plenty of that on the island.

Whatever you get up to, hope you enjoy yourselves!

 

[PinkMagnolia]

We went to Parksville in the Summer of 2011 with my (then) 2 7-year olds and had a great time! We stayed at the Ocean Sands resort, with an amazing view of the water. The tide goes all the way out forever and you can explore the bottom of the ocean - sand dollars, crabs,etc.. then when it comes back in, the water is very warm to swim in and very shallow... we loved it here! This also makes an excellent base for exploring the area (Coombs, Port Alberni, Cathedral Grove)
In Parksville, they also have a super-amazing ginormous playground in town! You must google it and see pictures - it's unbelievably huge! We also went to a beautiful mini-putt place that my boys really enjoyed.

We had a great time at Parksville - I think if you'd spend 3 nights there, along with a few days in Tofino, you 'd have a great trip!